Sacrifices of the Soul, Chapter 96
by SIPort
Chad was in his office working on a proposal when he heard a knock on the
door.
“ Come in.”
Chad stopped working when he saw who was walking into his office.
“ Mrs. Crane?”
“ Yes, Chad, it’s me. And, I come bearing gifts. “ Ivy sat a picnic basket
down on Chad’s desk. “ I had Cook prepare you a lunch. I hope you like it.”
“ Um, ok.”
“ May I sit down?”
“ Of course. What can I do for you, Mrs. Crane?”
“ I told you. Call me Ivy. After all, I’m your stepmother, Dear.”
“ Ok, Ivy, what can I do for you?”
“ Actually, it’s what I can do for you, Chad. I came to apologize.”
“ Apologize?”
“ Yes. For that unfortunate incident at Ethan’s party.”
Chad smiled slightly. Yet again, it’s an ‘ incident’. “ Ok, you’re
apologizing for that?”
“ Why yes. If I had known that such an incident would occur, well, it was
poor planning on my part.”
Chad looked at Ivy with the ‘ have you lost your natural mind’ eye. He
didn’t think Ivy had poorly planned anything since Kindergarten. “ Well,
it’s very generous of you to come down here and talk with me about it. I
told Ethan today that I believe he had nothing to do with it.”
“ Well I’m glad, because Ethan was concerned that you might blame him.
But, it was NOT his fault.”
“ I get that.”
“ Well, I’m glad we had this talk. And, you’ll be sure to relay this visit
to Julian, won’t you?”
Chad smiled….NOW he knew why Ivy was here. “ Julian?”
“ Yes. I’m sure that he would appreciate knowing that you don’t believe
Ethan had anything to do with it.”
“ Actually, Ivy, I was going to call you.”
“ Call me?”
“ Yes. I was going to ask you for a favor.”
“ A favor?”
“ You being my stepmother and all.”
Ivy knew when she was being played, but she was willing. “ Ok Chad, shoot.”
“ There are some kids, down at the Youth Center. They’re on their way to
college.”
“ Good for them.”
“ Yeah, good for them. Well, these kids….they need a little help, and you’re
the perfect person to help them.”
“ Help them?”
“ Yes, I was reading a bit about the old days of Motown. Did you know that
Berry Gordy wasn’t just a record company owner. He knew that he had to craft
the IMAGE of the singers. And, that included them being presentable to the
rest of the world.”
“ Presentable?”
“ Mr. Gordy established a finishing school for his acts. Taught them the
ins and outs of society and how to handle themselves. Then it came to me
– these kids need something like that.”
“ Finishing school?”
“ Yes. These are working class, poor kids, Ivy. Some of them will be going
to some of the most expensive schools in the country. Do you know how out
of place they’ll feel socially?”
“ Oh.”
“ So, I was thinking….twenty weeks of finishing school for them.”
“ TWENTY WEEKS? That’s five months?”
“ I know. Enough time for them to be comfortable with their new lessons.”
“ S…surely you can find someone else to do it.”
Chad shook his head. “ Not someone with your…expertise. Someone who can
teach them how to deal with ‘ incidents’ like that at Ethan’s party. I bet,
if I’d had a teacher like you, I would have handled that situation altogether
different. I’m a Crane – nobody’s going to hold it against me. But, one
of these kids has an outburst like that- justified or not – could ruin their
future chances of working. You know it. I know it. I would consider this
a PERSONAL favor, Ivy. And, I would certainly tell Julian how much help you’ve
been on this project. Plus, wouldn’t it be another cap in the feather of
Crane Charities?”
Ivy looked at Chad. She knew she was stuck. There was no way out. “ Fine.
I’ll do your Finishing School, Chad. I just hope these students appreciate
it.”
“ Oh, I’m sure they will, Ivy. I’ll send the list of names and addresses
over to you by the morning.”
Ivy sighed. Chad was indeed smarter than she thought. But, her apology
was done, and doing this project would certainly mean that her access to
funds would be reinstated. Plus, it would make her look good in Ethan’s
eyes; she couldn’t stand the look of disappointment he had been giving her
lately.
“ Bye Chad.”
Ivy left and Chad just had to laugh. He didn’t know why Ivy had agreed
to him, but he had to admit, he loved putting HER in an uncomfortable position.
He HAD wanted to do the Finishing School, but thought it was a pipe dream
until Ivy walked into his office. He had thought he’d ask Sheridan, but
when she made her speech about how important it was for her to do well in
business, he didn’t feel right asking her. Now, it would happen, and those
kids would hopefully be in a better position when they began school. He
knew that college was just as much about socialization as academics and
if you fail in one, you really won’t succeed overall.
Chad picked up his phone and dialed.
“ Julian Crane.”
“ Yo, Pops.”
“ Chad?”
“ Yep. I just had a visit from your wife.”
Julian began to laugh.
“ So, you DO know why she came to visit me.”
“ Yes. “
“ She apologized, without apologizing – of course.”
“ The whole, ‘ it was an unfortunate mistake’ thing.”
“ Yep. But, it’s ok.”
“ It is?”
“ Yes. Because, Ivy’s doing ME a favor.”
“ A favor?”
“ Yes, a project I was thinking about, but didn’t know how to get it done.
And now, I put Ivy in charge.”
“ And, she was OK with HELPING YOU?”
“ I, um, didn’t give her a choice.”
“ Attaboy. Good for you.”
“ So, what DID you do to Ivy to get her to come to me.”
“ Cut off all her funds.”
“ Ouch..for someone like her.”
“ Yes. Double ouch for Ivy. Did you make her grovel?”
“ Pops, I’m not like that.”
“ Bull. You’re a Crane. Just admit that you CHOSE not to.”
“ I CHOSE not to.”
“ That’s your mother speaking.”
Chad laughed. “ Bye, Pops.”